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| When was your first time to be interested in music itself? |
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have been interested in music literally since I was a baby. My grandmother has told me numerous times that music has always affected me in a very positive way. For my entire life thus far, I have recognized music as a mysterious, powerful, living spiritual entity. And I do not question it. |
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| Who were your favorite musicians? |
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 This question is very hard for me to answer in short. Growing up, my parents introduced me to the music of Ray Charles, BB King, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Aretha Franklin, Rick James, Shalamar, Lakeside, Earth, Wind, and Fire, ConFunkShun, Chocolate Milk, The Bar-Kays, etc. I grew up playing drums in church so I also liked The Clark Sisters, Rev. Clay Evans, The Chicago Mass Choir, Commissioned, etc. By the time I was 10, I delved into different worlds musically. Again, it is not possible for me name all of my favorite musicians or bands in one short paragraph without boring anyone. Some of my favorites were (and still are) Iron Maiden, OZZY, TNT, Motley Crue, Judas Priest, Warlock, Doro Pesch, King’s X, Journey, Tesla, Yngwie Malmsteen, Type O Negative, Genesis, King Crimson, Yes, Styx, Kansas, Tony MacAlpine, Jason Becker & Marty Friedman (Cacophony), Vinnie Moore, Greg Howe, (early) Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, Carnivore, Sacred Reich, Celtic Frost, Slayer, Clifford Brown, Buddy Rich, Branford Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Youssou N’Dour, Ayub Ogada, Paco De Lucia, Camaron de la Isla, Suzanne Vega, Ani Difranco, Julia Fordham, Bjork, Cocteau Twins, Lush, Dead Can Dance, Diamanda Galas, and Test Dept. And to go completely in reverse chronological order, I had a sort of “music revelation” when I was 2 years old. There was a sound that literally breathed life into me. The music that spearheaded this movement was featured on a label called Windham Hill, which was founded in 1974 by guitarist and producer William Ackerman. I’ve found that my favorite Windham Hill selections were released between 1974 and 1992. Will Ackerman has been a true life-inspiration for me musically. I am blessed and honored to now call him a very good friend. My favorite Windham Hill artists are William Ackerman (the founder of Windham Hill), Alex DeGrassi, Liz Story, Mark Isham, George Winston, Tim Story, Shadowfax, Nightnoise, Michael Hedges, Jim Brickman, Michael Manring, and way too many others for me to mention here!! Let me just end this question by mentioning 2 more of my heroes. They are composers Steve Reich and Hildegard von Bingen. I am sorry that I cannot answer this question completely. I haven’t even mentioned my favorite Drum n’ Bass, Techno, and Trance/Ambient artists. Thank God for too much good music! |
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| When did you start to play instrument and what kind of instrument was your first choice? |
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| My mom and grandma bought me a toy Mickey Mouse drumkit for Christmas when I was 4 years old. It really felt as though I’d been drumming for some time at that point. It felt way too familiar to me. I was drumming on pots and pans before that. My first instrument was a toy guitar my mom bought me. I was 2 or 3 years old then. Guitar has always been my first choice, I believe. I have a HUGE love for guitar and piano. Unfortunately, I do not play guitar – yet. I did, however, experience a natural gravitation towards drums right away. Drumming literally saved my life. |
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| Any effective practice method did you do? |
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 When I was growing up I used to jam with my stepdad, who is hands-down the BEST Hammond B3 organist I’ve ever heard in my life, and the most important musician I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with. Otherwise, I would just jam by myself. I was in my own world. It was so much easier then! I’m self-taught so I would just play to my favorite records or the radio. I started playing rudiments when I was 12 because I was in the Jr. High School band and wanted to save myself some humiliation during tests. Reading rhythmic notation and learning to play rudiments were not prioritized by my peers at that time because it wasn’t necessarily a “cool” thing. I’m a nerd so I didn’t have a social life that the other kids had. This afforded me the time to learn them. So one day, I just decided to pay attention to the tiny flash cards that my band director would project onto the screen during class. Well imagine that! My band director, George Johnson, encouraged me to move forward with my reading and rudiments. He used to call us drummers “The F-Troop”. Hilarious! I thank God for that man. He was a great role model and positive spirit for me. I am so grateful to him. |
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| When was your first time to check out Roland Drums/Percussion gears and what were they? |
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 I remember checking out electronic drums in 1989. I have always considered myself as a pro-acoustic drums kind of drummer. I staunchly believe in the sound and authenticity of acoustic drums. After trying various electronic drum kits at the local music stores over the years, however, it became obvious to me that there was an evolution happening in Roland’s concept of electronic drums, particularly. Eventually, it was the Roland V-Drums that made me take notice in 1995. I was reluctant at first, but eventually, I had to acknowledge the Roland V-Drums as a wonderful instrument in the music world. |
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| Do you think it would be necessary to use differently V-Drums/HPD and acoustic ones? |
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| As I began to spend more time with the V-Drums and the SPD-S Sampling Pad, I have come to view the Roland V-Drums differently from Acoustic Drums, in the same manner which I view a keyboard/synthesizer differently from an acoustic piano. So I have found that I do approach the V-Drums and acoustic drums differently as instruments. |
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| What are your favorite features on V-Drums/Hand Sonic? |
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| I really love the numerous kit choices offered by the V-Drums as well as the wicked editing and kit customizing features. The sequencing capability is an added plus and the built-in metronome is great to have for practice. Having a kit with headphones to plug in to keeps me out of trouble at home too (lol!). |
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| How is the tour with Utada? |
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 I’m having a great time and am enjoying being a part of such good company on the Utada United tour. That makes it much easier to be so far away from home for the entire summer, which is good for me because I get homesick very easily. From a gear standpoint, the tour has also offered me a gateway inside more of the capabilities of the V-Drums, which provide the dominant part of my sound for this tour. |
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| Please let me know your schedule when you back to the States. |
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| I will continue the writing process of my first solo cd, which I am hoping will be complete by the top of 2007. My new band, Epic, will begin rehearsing when I return home from Japan and will begin booking shows since our first cd “Metaphor” is packaged and available to the public. I will be working with Windham Hill founder and Grammy Award winning producer William Ackerman on new projects this fall as well. Working with him is literally a life’s achievement for me! I’ve also begun looking into plans for doing drum clinics and master classes in order to do more in sharing my gifts with the community. Hopefully and prayerfully, some good things will happen. |
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| Forrest Robinson Saturday, August 4, 2006 |
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